It is a world of contradictions.

If a man drinks much he loses his head, and if he doesn't drink at all he loses heart.

If he asks questions he gets into trouble, and if he doesn't ask them he gets old before his time.

Take the hymn we have just sung: "'On the other side of Jordan, In the sweet fields of Eden, Where the tree of life is blooming, There is rest for you!' "We all like that, because we get tired, and it isn't always summer, and nothing blooms all the year round.

We get up early and we work late, and we sleep hard, and when the weather is good and wages good, and there's plenty in the house, we stay sober and we sadly sing, 'On the other side of Jordan'; but when the weather's heavy and funds scarce, and the pork and molasses and bread come hard, we get drunk, and we sing the comic chanson 'Brigadier, vows avez raison!' We've been singing a sad song to-night when we're feeling happy.